Memorable bosses

DazTM · Post by **DazTM** » Tue May 29, 2007 12:10 am

More info for my feature.

I've been thinking long and hard about this, and R-Type (for me at least) has some of the most memorable and exciting bosses I've ever seen.

Doderops(or whatever his name is) the huge mothership on level 3, the snake and heart. The all stick in my memory.

What other bosses are particularly notable to you?

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Tue May 29, 2007 12:16 am

http://www.geocities.com/hugedb/Bosses/KFossil.html

My vote's definitely King Fossil.

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Tue May 29, 2007 12:19 am

Post by **Shatterhand** » Tue May 29, 2007 12:22 am

Yeah, I noticed the pattern too.

DazTM · Post by **DazTM** » Tue May 29, 2007 12:26 am

Shatterhand wrote:Yeah, I noticed the pattern too.

As I mentioned previously I'm working on a feature about shoot-em-ups. Rather than simply use my own brain and research (it would be just about Ikaruga, R-Type and Radiant Silvergun) I thought it would make sense to tap the members of this forum.

Post by **Icarus** » Tue May 29, 2007 12:55 am

Haven't we already done a memorable bosses thread?

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Tue May 29, 2007 12:57 am

The R-Type 1st boss is Doppelganger.

Another memorable boss is Alloy Lantern in Darius II. Once you defeat it, you go inside it to attack another boss (Steel Spine or Killer Hijia).

Hibachi in DDP-DOJ is memorable for putting out probably the most bullets of any boss. It looks even harder than Ketsui's Doom (which itself gets a vote).

RayForce's final boss is another one, especially for the way it comes into the screen by warping in- looking somewhat wavery for a few moments.

shinsage · Post by **shinsage** » Tue May 29, 2007 1:27 am

Andi mentioned this in the bomb thread, Neon Light Illusion in Darius Gaiden.

coolest boss in the whole series.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Tue May 29, 2007 1:36 am

Yeah - this thread has been done - someone should probably search for it.

Axelay - Level 2 "Walker" boss

maxi · Post by **maxi** » Tue May 29, 2007 2:10 am

Well, let me see...
The "God" form of Radiant Silvergun's last boss, the sea boss of Thunder Force 4 and all the bosses of Lords of Thunder!

freddiebamboo · Post by **freddiebamboo** » Tue May 29, 2007 2:14 am

I can't find the thread either...

Anyway, the Guwange baby thing and ESPrade's last boss have a certain quality to them.

Ozymandiaz1260 · Post by **Ozymandiaz1260** » Tue May 29, 2007 2:46 am

Hibachi

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Tue May 29, 2007 3:50 am

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=12814 ?

also http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=731

Andi · Post by **Andi** » Tue May 29, 2007 4:07 am

shinsage wrote:Andi mentioned this in the bomb thread, Neon Light Illusion in Darius Gaiden.

coolest boss in the whole series.

Yeah. Darius has the end all, be all coolest bosses. Visit this site and all your boss research will be solved:

http://www.geocities.com/hugedb/

Regulus · Post by **Regulus** » Tue May 29, 2007 4:29 am

gameoverDude wrote:The R-Type 1st boss is Doppelganger.

Dobkeratops, actually. Doppelganger is a mistranslation, as far as I know.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Tue May 29, 2007 4:32 am

Rather than simply use my own brain and research (it would be just about Ikaruga, R-Type and Radiant Silvergun) I thought it would make sense to tap the members of this forum.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=12814 ?

Do you come here everytime you have a deadline then?

You make it sound like you don't want to do any original research. I mean input from others is ok, and we're here to talk about shmups, but we do it for free, and you want to put our input in Retro Gamer, a print mag that costs money. You should be willing to dig out some stuff you're not familiar with and write about it, make your own opinions.

DazTM · Post by **DazTM** » Tue May 29, 2007 7:47 am

szycag wrote:
Rather than simply use my own brain and research (it would be just about Ikaruga, R-Type and Radiant Silvergun) I thought it would make sense to tap the members of this forum.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=12814 ?
Do you come here everytime you have a deadline then? You make it sound like you don't want to do any original research. I mean input from others is ok, and we're here to talk about shmups, but we do it for free, and you want to put our input in Retro Gamer, a print mag that costs money. You should be willing to dig out some stuff you're not familiar with and write about it, make your own opinions.

Not at all.
Say I was to write a feature with no input from you guys, I can guarentee that some would bitch and moan, because some obscure referance had been missed out.
I've seen in the past when people here (or on other forums) have moaned because a subject close to their hearts wasn't giving the love they felt it deserved when it appeared in print.
Some people here seem happy to contribute, obviously in the knowledge that the article in question will be as good as it could possibly be. You're obviously not one of them, which is fine.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Tue May 29, 2007 9:03 am

I see your point... you can't please everybody though. And I'm not unwilling to help, I did make the first reply after all... (does King Fossil get in your article?)

More than nagging you about it I was trying to say you should expand your own horizons a bit, get outside of R-Type and Treasure's offerings. Play a bit of Sexy Parodius in MAME and find some of your own new favorite bosses...

Daigohji · Post by **Daigohji** » Tue May 29, 2007 11:55 pm

Gluon from Psyvariar 2. The boss design itself is as simple as they come--a blob of light, but the hypnotic patterns it spits out and the tone of the music make for a memorable experience.

pixelcorps · Post by **pixelcorps** » Wed May 30, 2007 12:24 am

mushihimesama boss 1

that's some hardcore technical sprite manipulation going on there..

mushihimesama stage 3 - the whole damn level..

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:20 am

szycag wrote:I see your point... you can't please everybody though. And I'm not unwilling to help, I did make the first reply after all... (does King Fossil get in your article?)

More than nagging you about it I was trying to say you should expand your own horizons a bit, get outside of R-Type and Treasure's offerings. Play a bit of Sexy Parodius in MAME and find some of your own new favorite bosses...

I'm glad he's admitting he's unfamiliar with the genre and trying to find out more instead of regurgitating the corporate gaming journalism token Treasure worship article that pretends it's a true representation of the fan base.

Post by **Icarus** » Wed May 30, 2007 11:57 pm

Dale · Post by **Dale** » Thu May 31, 2007 12:09 am

Gunbird2's final boss. Only because the first time I saw it I was playing with my cousin and when the final boss came out I said out-loud "we faught gigantic tanks, mechs, pirates, battle ships and the final boss is a fuckin goofer!?". A pretty classic moment, my cuz can even still recall it despite it happening 3 years ago.

PROMETHEUS · Post by **PROMETHEUS** » Thu May 31, 2007 12:23 am

EspRaDe's last boss has good style.

HeWhoGoverns · Post by **HeWhoGoverns** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:32 pm

The first boss of Salamander 2. I remember playing it the first time, and at first you fight the first boss of Salamander 1, and I remember thinking to myself "This sucks." And then the actual boss, who is much more badass, comes and eats him. It was really cool to see, and fairly surprising. To me anyhow.

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:33 pm

Every Parodius series boss, also.

And then the actual boss, who is much more badass, comes and eats him. It was really cool to see, and fairly surprising. To me anyhow.

That was awesome. They scored an homage and surprise in one. They did the same trick later in Shin Contra.

boagman · Post by **boagman** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:40 pm

My favorite boss of all time is Viewpoint's (for the Neo-Geo) fourth stage boss, whom I've affectionately nicknamed "Four Face." And no, that has nothing to do with his being on the fourth stage, but everything to do with his four different faces which must be destroyed, all with different attack patterns, the fourth of which has an *additional* four faces to contend with.

I spent hours, and hours, and *hours* trying to learn his attack patterns to a T, and enjoyed every moment of it.

It's still not just my favorite shmup, but my favorite game of all time. Wish I knew how to get my PSP to do emulation so that I could play it on the go.

tviks · Post by **tviks** » Thu May 31, 2007 9:23 pm

And the music is just awesome. Gets my heart pumping.

Klatrymadon · Post by **Klatrymadon** » Thu May 31, 2007 10:03 pm

Damn straight. Also, surely Tetran is absolutely iconic at this point?

Shamelessly nicked from someone's avatar.

See also: any of Elephant Gear's spiritual predecessors.

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:35 am

I agree tviks, that Elephant Gear is definetly something... especially since my heart is racing just having survived the Gunner's Wall fight!